Saudi Arabia

Main Publications January 6, 2025 31:12 MIN Mahrah University: Paving the Way for Workforce Transformation By Tawfeek Al-Ganad, and Lara Uhlenhaut For decades, Yemen’s higher education system has been characterized by a persistent mismatch between graduates’ skills and the changing requirements of the market. The last labor force survey carried out in 2014 showed that less than one-third of Yemen’s labor force had secondary or tertiary education, and a qualification mismatch was found among some 83 percent of the employed population. Yemen’s struggle to produce a skilled workforce can be attributed to many factors, including inflexible curriculums, outdated teaching methods, failure to adapt to technological advancements, and a lack of strategic vision for admissions and curriculum development. Undoubtedly, the historical absence of a unified and coordinated vision for higher education has been exacerbated by a decade-long war and its detrimental impact… Continue reading Main Publications December 9, 2024 29:01 MIN Rescuing Yemen’s Economy By Ned Whalley, and Wadhah Al-Awlaqi A political crisis has wracked the interim capital of Aden as the internationally recognized government struggles to deal with the plummeting Yemeni rial. The currency now trades at over YR2,000 to the dollar, having lost over a third of its value since the year began. Riven by political infighting and lacking the vision or tools to arrest the slide, an acute economic collapse appears imminent if significant and sustained financial support does not arrive. Both short- and long-term factors have put downward pressure on the currency. The roots of the problem are difficult to unpick from Yemen’s troubled pre-war economy, the stressors and destruction of the conflict, and the broader economic downturn that has accompanied it over the past decade,… Continue reading Publications November 7, 2024 07:17 MIN The New US Administration and Yemen By Abdulghani Al-Iryani Almost four years ago, the incoming Biden administration, deeming peace in Yemen as low-hanging fruit, declared the ending of its war to be a top priority and appointed Special Envoy Tim Lenderking, a veteran of the State Department and competent diplomat, to reap that fruit. At the start of the conflict, the US backed the Saudi-led coalition with arms, intelligence, and logistical support, before pulling back slightly as the campaign against the Houthis turned into a years-long military stalemate and a humanitarian disaster for Yemen. By early 2021, the Houthis began to advance again into government-held territory and cemented themselves as a national security threat to Saudi Arabia via continued cross-border attacks. Well-designed strategic Iranian support, which grew as the… Continue reading Analysis October 16, 2024 07:07 MIN Quarterly: July-September 2024 The Houthis’ Rise Amid the Gaza War and Red Sea Crisis: From Local Actor to Regional Force By Alexandra Nikopoulou Following the outbreak of the Gaza war, the Houthis (Ansar Allah) rapidly extended their support to the Palestinians, directly targeting Israel, along with Israeli and Western vessels in the Red Sea. This unprecedented crisis has bolstered the group’s regional status and resulted in the escalation of regional tensions and the emergence of a novel threat to global maritime security. Concurrently, it has provided the Houthis with added leverage at the negotiation table. The Houthis have essentially transitioned from being recognized solely as a local Yemeni actor to becoming a powerful regional player within the Iran-led Axis of Resistance. Drawing on key insights from Sana’a Center experts, this analysis follows a three-level approach to examine the impact of the Houthis’ attacks… Continue reading Analysis October 16, 2024 05:46 MIN Quarterly: July-September 2024 UAE-Backed Forces Regroup in Yemen By Eleonora Ardemagni Since 2022, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) has been at the forefront of efforts to regroup UAE-backed forces in Yemen, including those that operate under its own banner. These efforts have accelerated in recent months, involving the appointment of new officials and increased cooperation with other UAE-backed actors in Yemen. There are three reasons for this campaign: to build a larger and more cohesive front to cope with possible future scenarios, from the resumption of large-scale fighting to a diplomatic breakthrough in the moribund peace process; to counterbalance the influence of the Saudi-backed Nation’s Shield forces; and to deal with persistent political-military tensions in Hadramawt, where the STC is attempting to increase its influence. Overall, the reorganization of these armed… Continue reading Analysis October 16, 2024 07:23 MIN Quarterly: July-September 2024 Egypt Maneuvers in the Horn of Africa By Maher Abu al-Majd Since October 2023, the Middle East has witnessed a series of geopolitical developments, which Cairo has perceived as a direct threat to its national security. These include: 1) the Israeli war on Gaza; 2) Houthi escalation in the Red Sea and a subsequent decline in Suez Canal revenue; 3) Ethiopia's quest for a seaport and plans to establish a naval base on the coast of Somaliland; and 4) the crisis in Libya and the potential for renewed conflict. This rapid succession of events has shattered Egypt's longstanding pillars of foreign policy, which for four decades were built on the principles of good neighborliness, non-intervention, and investing in mediation and diplomacy. In response, Cairo has undertaken a series of proactive measures… Continue reading Yemen Review section October 16, 2024 14:25 MIN Quarterly: July-September 2024 Politics and Diplomacy — The Yemen Review, Quarterly: July-September 2024 By Casey Coombs The Houthi Security and Intelligence Service has continued airing forced confessions by former employees of the US embassy in Sana’a, making increasingly outlandish claims of decades-long US spy operations in the country. The latest episodes, aired June 29, July 14, August 17, and September 1-2, focused on purported efforts to influence Yemeni culture, society, politics, and the education sector. Previous segments detailed alleged efforts to influence Yemen’s economy and agricultural sector. Regarding allegations of cultural interference, the Yemeni detainees (referred to as spies in the videos) discussed how the embassy’s cultural and media attachés worked in coordination with the CIA. English language courses offered by institutes such as the Yemen American Language Institute (YALI) and America-Mideast Educational and Training Services… Continue reading Yemen Review section October 16, 2024 27:46 MIN Quarterly: July-September 2024 The Economy — The Yemen Review, Quarterly: July-September 2024 By Wadhah Al-Awlaqi The ongoing economic conflict in Yemen escalated to include a fierce struggle between its bifurcated central bank for control over the nation's fractured monetary system and financial institutions. On June 26, the Central Bank of Yemen in Aden (CBY-Aden) issued a new directive, effectively banning banks and exchange outlets from working with unlicensed electronic payment companies. This move specifically targeted 12 e-wallet companies, which were deemed to be facilitating electronic payments and transfers without the necessary authorization. This appeared to be a part of a strategy to increase pressure on the Houthis by limiting alternatives to the deteriorating banknotes in use in areas under the group’s control and to prevent inflating the cash base in Yemen’s currently fragmented regulatory environment.… Continue reading News October 1, 2024 01:38 MIN Sana’a Center Media Call Shines Light on Ongoing Houthi Crackdown on Yemeni Civil Society In response to an alarming wave of arbitrary arrests and forced confessions of Yemeni aid workers, UN staff, foreign embassy employees, and activists, the Sana’a Center hosted a media call to discuss this growing threat to civil society. The event, held on Friday, September 27, and moderated by Daraj Media Editor Diana Moukalled explored the impact of these detentions, which have drastically reduced aid distribution to millions living under Houthi rule. In recent months, Houthi authorities in Sana’a have intensified their arrest campaigns, falsely accusing many of involvement in an international spy ring. Diala Haidar, a Yemen researcher for Amnesty International, said, “the ongoing campaign has raised fears among humanitarian workers in Yemen that they may be detained simply for… Continue reading News August 21, 2024 02:36 MIN Yemeni and Saudi Commentators Debate Yemen Peace Plan Are the peace talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi group (Ansar Allah) likely to establish a framework that will allow Yemeni parties to create a durable settlement among themselves? Or has Riyadh created a fatally flawed process that concedes too much ground to the Houthis from the start, ensuring that they dominate future Yemeni talks as the stronger party? Those critical questions were debated in a panel discussion organized on August 19 by the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies, featuring Sana’a Center Chairperson Maged al-Madhaji and Badr al-Qahtani, the Gulf desk editor in London for Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, and moderated by prominent Saudi journalist Eman al-Hamoud. “Yemen and Saudi Arabia have a common interest in the restoration… Continue reading Analysis July 23, 2024 10:10 MIN Saudis Give In to Houthi Pressure, Force CBY-Aden to Back Down By Ned Whalley, and Wadhah Al-Awlaqi Threatened with new attacks, Saudi Arabia has forced the Yemeni government to abandon efforts to cut off the Houthi group (Ansar Allah) from the international banking system. Financial sanctions enacted by the government-aligned Central Bank of Yemen in Aden (CBY-Aden) were perhaps the government’s last card in its efforts to negotiate economic relief or affect the power imbalance ahead of presumptive peace talks. Under enormous Saudi pressure, Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) canceled measures to consolidate control of the banking sector and financially isolate the Houthi-held north. The CBY-Aden’s position quickly became untenable without political support, and it has been forced to reverse course. The UN Special Envoy’s Office (OSESGY) has now announced that the government and the Houthis have… Continue reading Analysis July 15, 2024 06:13 MIN Quarterly: April-June 2024 Abdelmajeed al-Zindani: The Demise of Political Islam’s Leading Figure in Yemen By Tawfeek Al-Ganad With a long flaming red beard, distinctive square face, unconventional white turban, and a voice that was immediately recognizable – Abdelmajeed al-Zindani was perhaps the most famous political-religious figure in Yemen of the past 50 years, a controversial persona who stirred endless debate, even after his death on April 22 in Istanbul at the age of 82. Al-Zindani was born in the Al-Sha’ar district of Ibb governorate in 1942 and learned to read and write in its traditional kuttab school. He moved to Aden to continue his education and subsequently to Cairo, where he started the enigmatic journey of his political life between Yemen, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and, finally, Turkey. In the 1950s, Al-Zindani was affiliated with the pan-Arab… Continue reading